Meso outstanding as South Africa trounces Ireland
Player of the Match, Karabo Meso, carved an outstanding maiden international half-century and was brilliant with the gloves as South Africa Women u19 outplayed Ireland Women u19 in their Youth T20 series clash at the University of Pretoria on Wednesday.
South Africa recorded an emphatic 58-run victory to establish an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Ireland’s captain, Amy Hunter, won the toss and decided to bowl first, hoping her bowling attack could emulate the success that the hosts enjoyed on Monday.
That was not to be as South Africa chalked up 147/7 from their 20 overs. That total proved to be a mountain too high to climb for the visitors, who stumbled to 89/9 from their 20.
Meso struck eight fours and a six on her way to a match-winning 60 off 44 balls.
When the Steyn City learner arrived at the crease in the seventh over, South Africa needed to rebuild after wickets fell from back-to-back deliveries. The double-strike by Aimee Maguire meant that the home team had lost three wickets for 10 runs in 2.5 overs.
Meso bided her time, scoring at less than a run-a-ball through the first half of her innings, but a 62-run fourth-wicket partnership with Diara Ramlakan (31) not only stabilised the South African innings, but it swung the momentum firmly in favour of the home side.
The pair’s partnership, which came from only 46 deliveries, also propelled the hosts past the 100-run mark in the 15th over. It had taken South Africa more than nine overs to get past 50 runs. It also marked the third time in the three matches that Ramlakan, another Steyn City learner, had been part of a match-winning partnership.
Meanwhile, Meso charged towards her first Youth T20 International half-century while sharing an enterprising sixth-wicket stand with Luyanda Nzuza (16). Together, they added 39 runs from 27 balls. Openers, Diedre van Rensburg (19) and Simoné Lourens (13) were the only other batters to reach double figures.
Aimee Maguire was the pick of the Irish bowlers and returned the best figures of the match, capturing a sparkling four wickets for 29 runs. Lara McBride and Niamh MacNulty bagged a wicket each.
After her batting brilliance, Meso then put on a show behind the stumps. The wicketkeeper executed an outstanding stumping off Kayla Reyneke’s bowling to dismiss Freya Sargent in the second over and the Irish ladies never quite recovered from that setback.
They lost wickets in clumps, with four of them toppling in the powerplay. They also failed to get a measure of both the pitch and the field, inaccurately judging singles and twos. The result was that they lost a stunning four batters to run outs, with three of them featuring Meso, who displayed outstanding reflexes.
Abby Harrison (21), Ellie McGee (18), and Kia McCartney (11) were the only Ireland batters to make it into double figures.
Reyneke was the pick of the home side’s bowlers, claiming three wickets for 10 runs in three overs. Seshnie Naidu and Nthabiseng Nini were the other wicket-takers, removing one batter each.
The sides will play the remaining two games on Friday, with the hosts eyeing a series whitewash.
Summarised Scorecards
South Africa Women u19 147/7 (Karabo Meso 60, Diara Ramlakan 31; Aimee Maguire 4/29, Niamh MacNulty 1/27); Ireland Women u19 89/9 (Abby Harrison 21, Ellie McGee 18*; Kayla Reyneke 3/10, Seshnie Naidu 1/11).
South Africa won by 58 runs.
